Planning for your child’s care in the event of incapacity or death is essential. A custody designation ensures your child is cared for according to your wishes. Our family lawyer in Northern Minnesota and Wisconsin can help you create a legally binding document to protect your child’s well-being and prevent unintended outcomes under state law. Who will care for your child or children when you are unavailable to do so because of either incapacity or death? While you can leave an instruction in your will about who will care for your child or children in the event of your passing, it should be remembered that a will never becomes effective until the death of the will creator. Therefore, it is imperative for any parent that he or she create a custody designation document to take effect upon the temporary or permanent incapacity of the parent. Without such a document, it will create a situation whereby social services will be forced to care for your child until a suitable relative or placement can be found.
These questions or thoughts become extremely important when a child’s other parent is unable or unwilling to care for the child in the event of your incapacity. There may be circumstances where the child’s other parent simply is not a good taker and should not be entrusted to care for your child. Most state laws prescribe that a non-custodial parent be given the first opportunity to care for a joint child. A custody designation document can help you avoid the unintended consequences of state laws that would put your child in the care of an unfit parent.
Contact our office today to learn what legal instruments or documents are available to help you plan for care for your child or children in the event of incapacity or death.
